To celebrate its 40th anniversary, the Center for Communication Practices at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has announced a broader vision as well as a new name: the Center for Global Communication and Design, known informally as Comm+D.

Comm+D was established in 1978 as The Writing Center to offer communication assistance to the Rensselaer community. For four decades the center has offered one-on-one consultation to students, faculty, and staff in preparing written, oral, and electronic communication projects.

Now the center is expanding its areas of teaching, research, and service beyond writing and oral communication to include various types of visual communication including illustrations, interface design, video and animation storyboards, and multisensory data representation.